Scottie Thompson made it a Christmas Day to remember for Barangay Ginebra, leading his team back for an 86-78 win over TNT on Monday in the PBA 48th Season Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Thompson nailed two critical three-pointers late to bail out Ginebra, which spent most of the game playing catch-up against a TNT side that led by as many as 13 points while playing without import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.
Ginebra's sixth win in games was enough to guarantee it a quarterfinal berth as it tied San Miguel at fourth place in the team standings.
The Gin Kings went on an 8-0 run after trailing, 74-71, in the fourth, with Thompson capping that stretch with an offensive rebound and a putback.
Thompson then buried the dagger threes, the last one with 31.2 seconds remaining on the clock for an 85-78 lead.
Thompson also did his job on defense, limiting Calvin Oftana to six points in the final quarter after he made 10 in the previous period.
“You look at the start of the game, there’s no Rondae, no Jayson Castro, Mikey Williams is nowhere to be found. It looked like the game was supposed to be easy for us,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone.
“Coach Jolas [Lastimosa] came out and just coached a hell of a game out there… It was a real grind for us except for Scottie taking over down the stretch and making a couple of big shots, the game was practically a toss-up,” said Cone.
The former PBA MVP had a huge follow-up to his play in the Meralco victory last Friday when he fired 21 points.
Christian Standhardinger added 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Tony Bishop had 15 points and hauled 12 rebounds.
Oftana finished with a game-high 27 points as he took over in the absence of not just Hollis-Jefferson but also Jayson Castro.
The scores:
Barangay Ginebra 86 – Standhardinger 22, Bishop 15, Thompson 12, Ahanmisi 11, J. Aguilar 11, Malonzo 7, Pringle 6, Tenorio 2, David 0, Onwubere 0.
TNT 78 – Oftana 27, Ponferada 14, Khobuntin 13, Williams 7, Aurin 6, Montalbo 5, Galinato 4, Ganuelas-Rosser 2, Reyes 0.
Quarters: 13-21; 37-37; 59-65; 86-78.